CALL FOR POLICY ON LIFELONG LEARNING

Participants in the 60th Annual New Year School have called for a policy on life-long learning to provide a comprehensive, nationally consistent but flexible structure for all levels of education and training in the country.
They said the development of such a policy should be consultative and involve all in the country.
They also proposed the integration of peace and civic education into the curriculum of schools from the basic level through to the tertiary level.
In an 18-point communiqué issued at the end to this year’s New Year School, organised by the Institute of Adult Education (IAE) of the University of Ghana, Legon, participants also called for a collaboration among the Ministry of Education Science and Sports (MOESS), Open University and other relevant educational institutions to develop a comparable certification system for all life-long, adult education and informal learning processes, based on content, teaching and learning with other assessment criteria.
They proposed continuing education relevant to all functionaries of metropolitan, municipal and district assemblies (MMDAs) and community members while as a matter of urgency, functionaries of MMDAs should be adequately resourced and structures strengthened to make the local government system more effective and efficient for life-long learning.
Among recommendations made on the media, participants asked for support for the National Media Commission (NMC) in order to bring to ensure that advertising agencies did gender-sensitive advertisements.
They said regulation had to be put in place to ensure that all media houses, both print and electronic, allocated space and airtime for public education of civic rights and responsibilities on a regular basis as part of their corporate responsibility.
They also proposed a fund for media development for the transformation of the industry.
Other recommendations related to pension reform, health promotion programmes in workplaces, homes, schools and communities, and financing of life-long learning through public private partnerships for the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).
DAILY GRAPHIC, MONDAY JANUARY 12, 2009, PG 31